


All Maroon

by laurennmckenna



Category: All Time Low
Genre: Bands, Bon Iver, F/M, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Romance, Shiver, Winter, Wolves, all time low - Freeform, maggie stiefvater - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 12:30:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9235175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurennmckenna/pseuds/laurennmckenna
Summary: How do you resist the love of a broken soul in need for repairing.





	

A thousand suns warm black tarmac that solidified the empty roads of Minnesota. A new one is birthed each day, bringing a new light and a new hope. You can always tell when one has regenerated thanks to the coral pink shades that splatter across the horizon in the morning like watercolour, nearing close to that red of a blazing fire. Or in the evening, as one comes to the end of its life, brilliant blue fades into a deathly black, with an overlay of stars and planes that confuse each other. Tragically, some suns have a longer, life than others; those that reign in summer survive for at least half of the day, washing down on almost-naked people who are basking in its glory. The summer sun is loved and celebrated by most, bringing with it light and stardom and life. The summer sun lives in places like California, where the season never ends and it is always warm enough to go out without a jacket. This sun gets to appreciate praise and happiness where it might not have been a month ago. Winter, however, brings another meaning for a sun. Its life could only expand for an hour, allowing the darkness to swoop over the planet like a cloth coated in chloroform. Clouds suffocate this suns light, blocking its potential and forcing a gloomy depression onto the people. A once Sinatra blue sky, turned smoke grey for months on end. Hope for the light to return starts to fade away, and people even wonder if the sun would ever return to melt away the snow. It was a winter sun that took a cursory glance at the earth on this day, before disappearing into the horizon. Accompanied by a sharp, cold wind, the incandescent light scattered and broke throughout the trees of the forest, creating long, dark silhouettes over the dead leaves on the ground. In some places, unmelted snow hid from this luminescence in fear of its life. As the breeze fought against the tallest pine trees, I was securely sheltered in my tree house. The old wooden walls were slowly decaying, and only a nailed-on sheet protected the little building from torrential rain when we had it. The tree house was dainty and small, but I had crafted its interior so it matched my personal needs. Along three small walls were fairy lights, strung neatly on pins to light up the walls. A soft, black rug was neatly placed in the center of the bijou room, upon it an apple crate in place of a table. A few cushions were thrown haphazard, giving guests an area to sit, and a conveniently placed mini-fridge nested in the corner; my dad used his electrical skills to make it solar powered. For me, it was the perfect place to relax. I come here to think about my own thoughts- have some me time. Most of my spare hours were spent up here. Being alone in such a place brought its perks: in sun, it provided me with shade. In cold, it protected me from the harsh, battering wind and pouring rain (like today). My little hideaway was my secret. My granddad built it for my dad, who showed it to me. He'd tell me stories about how he and his friends would use it as a top secret base- no adults allowed. The same crate I used as a table was their control panel, used for flying the 'spaceship'. Together, my father and his three closest friends would soar the galaxies in search for a portal to another universe. These stories were told to me before bedtime growing up, and I would fall asleep under the glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling, hoping I would too explore the universe one day. 

I felt a vibration in my pocket. A text from my mother read that my dinner was ready, so I climbed down from the old box of wood and started making my way back through the forest. It was already starting to go dark- it was 5pm in the middle of December. As I walked, I attempted to warm up by wrapping myself in my thick coat. My hands and cheeks slowly turned red as the cold attacked them; there was nothing to protect them from the abrasive weather. I followed the worn down path to my back gate- I was fortunate enough to have the forest in my garden. I quietly slid open the glass doors and snuck through the lounge to the front door. I opened and closed it, so it appeared to my mother that I came in that way. She was never a fan of me going out to the forest. Over the past few years, the cold weather brought an increase in wild wolves and Red Deer. Personally, i never felt threatened by the wildlife, but there had been several attacks over the past few years.

"Hey mom!" I shouted throughout the hallway to the kitchen. A clattering and crashing of pots disturbed the somewhat quietness in the house that was once there, and broke up the music playing from the radio. I ran to the room where she was, to see a few pans on the floor.

"Oh, christ-" She muttered some profanities as she collected them off the floor to put back into the cupboard. I kneeled down to help her. 

"Where have you been, honey?" My mother asked as she closed the cupboard and stirred the boiling vegetables on the stove. 

"Um," I sighed, conceiving a lie in my head. "I went into town with Effy. She wanted to pick up a few things." I said confidently. I told one of these lies almost everyday, and somehow she always believed them. I bent down and removed the chicken from the oven, placing it on the metal cooling rack beside the stove.

"There's enough to go around, you know. She could've come over for dinner if she wanted." She nonchalantly announced, finishing up with the final touches of the meal. I nodded and left the kitchen, running up the stairs and into my room. Taking my phone out of my pocket, i dialed the number of my best friend. The phone rang twice before the familiar voice sounded through my speaker.

"Hey Sage, whats up?" Effy was always optimistic. It was one of the things that drew me to her in the first place. We met in 8th grade- she moved to Duluth from New York and I would always laugh at her accent. My personality was a foil to hers- I was pessimistic and sarcastic, whereas she was always happy and motivating. Despite our differences, it was still as if we were the same person. We shared the same opinions on things, and when we didn't, we could always see each others point of view. Effie and I even looked similar, with our dark brown hair grazing the hips and blue eyes. Our only substantial physical difference were our noses. Hers was convex, the bridge risen higher than the tip. Mine was smooth and sloped- Grecian.

"Hey Ef, my mom says you can come over for dinner. I told her we went shopping so we've 'been together all day', okay?"

"Got it. On my way!" Effie hung up the phone. It never took her long to get here as she only lived around the corner, and always drove a little faster than she should suppose to. I flung my puffer jacket on to the bed, and removed my bobble hat and scarf. Pulling my sweater over my head, my skin twitched due to the cold of my room (the heating had been off all day). I took a simple t-shirt from my drawer and pulled it over my body. My feet slipped into cosy slippers before making my way back downstairs to set the dining table. Sooner than later, there was a distinctive knock at the door. Effy.

I hopped through the hallway, and unlocked the security hatch that protected me from the fierce winds. The familiar face stood, smiling against the cold. No cold or storm or rainy day could ever falter the grin she bore on her pretty, freckled face. I moved out of the way so she could come inside and get warm. Effie removed her coat and hung it over the oak banister on the stairs. She stuck her head in the kitchen door and said hi to my mom, before coming into the living room and placing herself on the fur rug next to the fire. I joined her, planning out what to say to my mom if she asked us about our imaginary day together. We chatted briefly about our actual days, before being called to the table. Effie and I made our way to the table and took our seats. Mom was putting all of the food onto our plates, bringing pans out from the kitchen, disappearing and coming back with another. She always made wonderful meals, and often misjudged the amount of food she needed.

There used to be three of us, before Dad passed. It had been two years since then, and she would always talk to herself when there was left overs, saying how she made him a meal when he wasn't there to eat it. Its heart breaking how the accident that left him for dead traumatized her. Mom finally sat down, assuming her position at the head of the table. She had always been so pretty. Her hair was bleached, but her high-maintenance life left her with no time to get it redone, so dark roots poured out of her scalp. Her complexion was far more golden than mine, and eyes were so much brighter. They used to be, anyway. Anyone could tell how exhausted she was. All afternoon, she had been cooking a meal that could feed six, but only three of us were there to eat it.

"I guess we'll be having this tomorrow too, Sage" mom laughed, but I could hear the tired tone in her voice. We all began to eat, but were soon disrupted. It was hard for us to get complete peace in our house. Another knock on the door. This knock was unfamiliar, and hard. The three of us looked at each other with confused looks on our faces, before my worn-out mother left her seat to go and answer it. I followed behind her like a shadow out of curiosity. The opening of the door once again brought a even colder draft into our small house. Behind it, stood an unusually short man, one that we had never seen before. Behind him a woman and a boy about my age stood next to a moving truck.

"Hi" started the man. My mom and I were both shocked by his British accent. "I'm Peter. We- we just moved in next door." Peter bared a false smile, eyes scrunched together from the cold.

"Hi, I'm Linda. Nice to meet you," Mom grinned impatiently. "This is Sage." I raised my hand slightly and gave a slight wave. Peter nodded, and pointed out to the dark haired boy on the street who was talking to the woman. "That's my son Alex- he looks about your age. How old are you?" The man was quite obviously shivering as he pointed out to Alex. 

"I'm 15" I replied, with the warmest grin I could muster up. It was a very awkward encounter, but my mom's warm heart could only sympathize with the family.

"Is that your wife?" Linda asked politely, crossing her arms to block out the cold. She was returned with a nod and a grin from Peter, obviously proud of his small family. Either my mom was just really cold, or just really sympathetic, she said something that was quite out of the ordinary. 

"Why don't you guys come in for dinner? We've got plenty to go around- I overcooked." Mom chuckled. I faced her with a sly, confused look, unnoticed by Peter. I turned around to see Effie sticking her head out of the door frame of the dining room, with the same confused expression as I had. I presumed, that any polite person would simply decline and say 'it was nice meeting you', and that would be that. But perhaps in Peter's mind, it was more polite to accept an invitation. Which he did. Mom nudged me and told me to set the rest of the table so the family of three could eat with us. I heard mom exchange a greeting with Peter's wife, whose name I think was Isobel. A small hello was given to the son, Alex. As the family entered our dining room, I took my seat and mom explained who Effy was so they didn't think we was sisters due to our similar looks. Alex sat next to me, Peter at the end of the table and Isobel next to Effie. They introduced themselves as the Gaskarth's, to me and Effy, as Linda prepared their plates. Throughout the meal, Peter's friendly and confident personality shone through his body like light from the crack of a closed door. Isobel shared that same warmth and kindness that he appeared to have. It confused me that such happy and welcoming people such as Mr and Mrs Gaskarth would have produced such a... cold, son. He spoke the occasional word, and said his pleases and thank yous. But he was guarded. Very guarded. At first impressions, he seemed like one of those people who would take a lot to crack- take a lot to really open up. With me being one of those people myself, I often tried to avoid those kinds of people. I personally know that I'm hard work, so dealing with someone like myself would just be too much for me. Every mumble he made and every time he'd shuffled his fuel around on his plate, or every time he'd shift his drooping, brunette hair out of his face would irritate a little bit more each time. I glanced up at Effy, and for some reason I got mad when I saw her gazing at Alex, her hand resting on her chin with a daydream-y smile plastered onto her face. I managed to get her attention and flashed questioning eyes at her. She simply winked and checked her phone, before positioning her knife and fork together on the plate and standing up.

"Thank you very much for my meal Linda, but its time for me and Sage to go." Effy smiled. Mom rested her elbows on the table and rubbed her hands together. 

"Where are you both going?" She asked, raising her eyebrow at us.

"Where are we going?" I asked, adopting the same position as my mother and raising the same eyebrow. 

"Sage, did you forget? It's Rice Lake tonight!" Ah yes, Rice Lake. The twice-annual party thrown by the seniors down by the reservoir about 20 minutes out of town. Effy always raved about it, but I was never really a fan. I would always end up driving because Effy wanted to drink, and we couldn't really ditch our cars there. More often than not, she'd find herself hanging around with the senior boys, being unnecessarily groped, but she loved the attention and always claims each one is the best night of her life. I didn't quite have her confidence, so I'd end up sitting on a rock down by the waters edge, waiting to go home. I looked at my mom, who said it was fine if I went. I was hoping she'd say I couldn't, just so I didn't have to, but I realise now that she was probably just trying to impress the new neighbours. Effie and I said goodbye and proceeded out to the hall. I had only put on one shoe before Linda called me back to the room where she was sat. I stuck my head through the doorframe, and soon wished I hadn't.

"Why don't you take Alex with you? It'd be a good way for him to meet some people before he went to school, don't you think?" Her smile would have been perceived as generous and thoughtful to the Gaskarth's, but to me it was forceful and demanding.

"Sure. Why not." I stated, nonchalantly. I returned to the hall to put my other shoe on. I heard Alex saying that he'd 'rather not intrude' or something like that. Internally, I was very thankful. I appreciated that he tried to excuse himself, but I knew mom wouldn't allow to be sour towards him. Before I could even get up to persuade him, Effie had already run into the dining room, begging him to come with us. Eventually he gave in, and as he appeared in the doorway I rolled my eyes, only to receive a flick on the side of my face from Effie as she walked past me. Climbing into the driving seat, I cranked my stereo as loud as I could humanly take it, to drown out the awkward silence between us all.


End file.
